Many are called, but few are chosen to be CRUSHED!

For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matt 22:14)

I notice today many  believers want to have their cake and eat it too, to which I say, what is the point of having cake if you cannot eat it? (but that is for another debate). What I mean is they want to have the benefits of serving the Most High (God) and the trappings of the good life or what  a dear friend of mine likes to call it being a "Christian Rock Star". They have visions of splendor about their "ministry" to millions, their faces plastered on TV while they pray for the president or some high level diplomat. They dream of having a state of the art website shows their professional head shot and  several photographs of them with rappers, actors, famous athletes, ad nauseum. Visions of taking  the position of the lowest servant and washing feet or the possibility their highest calling in might mean they remain unknown and obscure never crosses their minds. 

Why must it be like this? because we have ministers who talk and behave more like motivational speakers than preaching the gospel. They do not address  what the Most High requires to walk in true purpose for HIS glory; which requires a surrendered life of obedience meaning we sign our lives over as a blank check to spend as he pleases (and we may not like what he chooses to spend our life on). They teach more of a self-serving type of message that omits the sacrifice that Yah requires of his servants especially the ones that he will put in the spotlight so to speak. The people that follow them covet their position not understanding the accountability for such a huge level of influence. There is alot of talk about our destiny and our purpose but no one likes to talk about the process that precedes the fulfilment and that involves being CRUSHED. This is not to say that Yah does not have wonderful things planned for each of us and for some it may have the elements of a "Rock Star" type of life, but I warn you, it comes with a price. If you read the scriptures no man or woman that was called to be greatly used by Yah escaped the crushing process and if they somehow did the results were disastrous. In my research, I came across 3 items that all shared the same process for the end result, crushing and those items were olives (for oil) , grapes (for wine), and fine linen and I found a connection for our lives as believers, in order for our true purpose to be released, we have to be crushed.

 Olive Oil

Olive Oil from olives in a press (Looks like blood doesn't it?)

This description I read on line describes the process beautifully:

The process of extracting oil from olives begins with the picking and then bruising and crushing of the fruit. The crushed and broken fruit is then collected into baskets which are stacked one upon the other. They are then placed under the press where tremendous pressure is applied to them. This process slowly crushes the oil from the fruit. The pressure that is applied is firm and fierce, steadily increasing over time until the red stained oil contained therein is extracted from the once unblemished fruit.

 Ever feel like once you were saved that everything in your life started going wrong? Or  after you have been saved a while Yah begins to reveal his plan for your life, then all hell starts breaking loose? Congratulations! You are being crushed.  When I was a young believer there were times when older seasoned believers would tell me I have been "hand picked" by Yah for a purpose. That would lift my spirits and I would walk around with a sense of dignity and purpose, but then I would notice  friends would  start cutting me off,  I would get laid off from a job or experience some other sort of set back. Like the olives, I was hand selected alright....to be bruised, crushed and broken. The anointing the Most High was releasing through me could only be released  through the crushing experiences I had to go through. Not fun, but necessary.

Wine 

Wine Press

 Wikepedia had this to say:

A wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making.  There is a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit (most often grapes). The pressure must be controlled, especially with grapes, in order to avoid crushing the seeds and releasing a great deal of undesirable tannins into the wine. 

Tannins: A yellowish or brownish bitter-tasting organic substance

 There are those words synonymous with pain again, crushing and pressure. There are things that Yah has put inside of us that will only be released through a controlled crushing pressure of his doing. So if you are looking for a day when it will "let up" guess again, it won't and the pressure will only increase through time. ( I know, not the type of motivational stuff you are used to hearing right?) I believe Yah gives us moments of rest from the crushing because if he applies too much pressure, then the bitterness (tannins) of the crushing will seep into the wine and ruin what he is releasing through us. With wine then there is the fermentation (maturing) process where grape juice becomes wine and if it sits too long, it becomes vinegar (yuck!) so timing is crucial for the end result. Yah (God)  always has a plan!

Fine Linen

 

 From Answers.com:

Fine linen fabrics have been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs. The fibre is obtained by subjecting plant stalks to a series of operations, including retting (a fermentation process), drying, crushing, and beating.

Fine linen is some of the most luxurious fabric; soft to the touch, wonderful to sleep in, and the wealthy love to wear it. So how does this fabric obtain it fabulous reputation? through crushing, beating, and being hung out to dry. Nice! Now do you get the picture? The outcome of  some of the beautiful things we take pleasure in, are beaten, crushed and hung out to dry, Just like our messiah, Y'shua and we also must walk this same path because no servant is greater than his master. We want the beautiful outcome but not the process, after all who signs up for pain and more pain? 

Consider Joseph, he dreamed that this brothers would one day bow to him, he was beaten down and crushed  for years as a slave then a prisoner before that happened, because Yah's plan for him was not to just to bestow upon him honor in his family tribe, but the honor of an entire nation that would benefit from the years of crushing he endured to stay a man of integrity. The process was painful!!! but he came through it!. How about David? Who was anointed king of Israel at 17 and spent several years running from the current king who was trying to kill him and trying to stay alive when  his men were plotting stone him when their wives, servants and children were kidnapped by enemy forces. Talk about pressure from all sides, yet he endured the crushing and fulfilled his destiny. 

Then there are people like Jeremiah who went through years of the crushing rejection of the people of Israel and the King himself who opposed his warnings of coming judgment. He fulfilled his purpose only to see his nation in ruins because of their disobedience. Or how about the crushing reality  that John the Baptist had to face when once he fulfilled his destiny of introducing the messiah, that Y'shua did not rescue him from prison and he died there, ouch! So much for the Hollywood ending, there was no cheering crowd and cameras on this side of heaven when John finished his race, just a wicked girl who used her favor with King Herod to end his life and parade his head as her trophy, but John was no failure, he did to the fullest what he was born to do!

These are the realities of greatness that we don't like to talk about and I would be doing a disservice to you if I filled this post with fluff. If we want the gold medal, then we have to put in the hours of training and preparation that proceeds that moment.We have to be prepared to be crushed if we want the glory that follows, there is just no way around it. I do not look forward to the crushing seasons anymore than you would but I always find myself stronger and wiser on the other side of it, but believe me I feel the pressure the breaking and crushing of the olive press just the same and I hate it (I do not like pain), but I need it and so do you.

The good news is, no two peoples "crushing" process is the same because no two peoples callings are the same, but I warn you if you are truly called to a "mega" sized ministry your crushing is going to be alot more severe because of the amount of people you will influence and the accountability you will have before Yah for that influence. Do you want that type of accountability before the Holy One of Israel? We are talking about eternal souls here, not a project to stroke our egos. Your character and mine is far more important to the Most High than our photo on a billboard so be careful what you ask for. I would  NEVER want to be personally responsible for someone stumbling to hell, NEVER. So you cannot start complaining when the heat is on and moan how unfair it is  when you sister or brother is only required to do 10 push-ups and Yah's demands 1,000 out of you. If you are called (note I said CALLED, not coveting) to be responsible for a mega ministry, get ready for some mega beating and crushing! No guts, no glory and a character not surrendered to Yah COMPLETELY  cannot sustain the responsibility for the influence for millions of lives.  Joseph's crushing was severe to the point being a prisoner one step from death before he was elevated to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt and he was able to have compassion on people from every walk of life. When you have been in the place other people are in, you will not be judgemental of them. The crushing humbles us and deals with our pride and self importance. If effective, we know who we are  and more importantly who Yah is and we never confuse the two.

Are you willing to be crushed?